Hamilton High School West Explained
Hamilton High School West is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grade located in Hamilton Township, in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as one of the three secondary schools of the Hamilton Township School District; the other high schools in the district are Hamilton High School North-Nottingham High School and Hamilton High School East- Steinert High School.[2]
As of the 2022–23 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,348 students and 99.4 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.6:1. There were 485 students (36.0% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 103 (7.6% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[3]
Awards, recognition and rankings
The school was the 222nd-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 339 schools statewide in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2014 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", using a new ranking methodology.[4] The school had been ranked 275th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 258th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[5] The magazine ranked the school 262nd in 2008 out of 316 schools.[6] The school was ranked 240th in the magazine's 2008 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.[7]
Athletics
The Hamilton High School Hornets[8] compete in the Colonial Valley Conference, which comprises public and private high schools located in Mercer County and operates under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).[9] With 933 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2022–23 school year as Group III for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 761 to 1,058 students in that grade range.[10] The football team competes in the Capitol Division of the 94-team West Jersey Football League superconference[11] [12] and was classified by the NJSIAA as Group IV South for football for 2022–2024, which included schools with 893 to 1,296 students.[13]
The school participates together with Hamilton High School East - Steinert in a joint ice hockey team in which Hamilton High School North - Nottingham is the host school / lead agency. The co-op program operates under agreements scheduled to expire at the end of the 2023–24 school year.[14]
Hamilton West competes in an annual Thanksgiving Day football game against Steinert High School.[15] The rivalry with Steinert was listed at 16th on NJ.com's 2017 list "Ranking the 31 fiercest rivalries in N.J. HS football". Hamilton West leads the rivalry with a 34–23–1 overall record as of 2017.[16]
NJSIAA state championships
- Boys basketball - 1935, 1953, 2006[17] The 1935 team won the Group III state title with a 35-27 win in the playoff finals against Ridgefield Park.[18] The 1953 team won the Group III title with a 56-52 win in the championship game against Linden.[19] With a 66-34 win against Shabazz in the finals of the tournament played at Rutgers University, the 2006 team won the Group III state title[20] and came into the Tournament of Champions as the sixth seed, falling by a score of 80-67 in the quarterfinals to third-seeded Haddonfield Memorial High School led by Brian Zoubek.[21] [22]
- Boys soccer - 1947, 1948, 1951, 1953, 1955, 1962, 1976[23]
- Girls basketball - 1983[24] [25]
- Girls softball - 1999[26] [27]
- Boys baseball - 2000[28] [29]
Marching band
The Hamilton High School West Marching Band is a division of the Hamilton West Bands, which comprises the Marching Band, Symphonic Band, Saxophone Quartet, Brass Quintet and Jazz Ensembles. The Marching Band became competitive in the Fall of 2006, and competes in the USBands Marching Band Circuit. The Instrumental Program at Hamilton West was in place on the first day of school (September 8, 1930), and the first Director of Bands was Harlan D. Darling. The band is known as "The Pride of Mercer County." The school's fight song is called "Loyalty", and their Alma Mater is the melody of "Far Above Cayuga's Waters", which is the Alma Mater for Cornell University, and is played by the Marching Band at the end of every home football game.[30]
Administration
The school's principal is Brian Smith. His core administration team includes three vice principals and the athletic director.[31] [32]
Sister schools
Hamilton High School West is the original Hamilton Township High School. The two other high schools in the district (with 2022–23 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics[33]) are:[34]
Notable alumni
- Christian Burns, (born 1985), professional basketball player for Germani Basket Brescia of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A.[37]
- Jayson DiManche (born 1990), linebacker for the Cincinnati Bengals.[38]
- Tom Goodwin (born), politician and financial planner who was selected in March 2010 to represent the 14th Legislative District in the New Jersey Senate, after the resignation of Bill Baroni.[39]
- Jim Hoey (born 1982), pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles. The school retired Hoey's number in a ceremony held on February 1, 2007.[40]
- Kevin Johnson (born 1976), former NFL wide receiver for seven seasons for the Cleveland Browns, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Baltimore Ravens and the Detroit Lions.[41]
- Tad Kornegay (born 1982) defensive back for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Canadian Football League.[42]
- Nicholas Olhovsky (born 1974, class of 1993), First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York since September 2022.[43]
- Bruce Ritter (1927-1999), Catholic priest and one-time Franciscan friar who founded Covenant House in 1972 for homeless teenagers and led it until he was forced to resign in 1990.[44]
External links
Notes and References
- https://www.htsdnj.org/domain/960 Clubs and Organizations
- https://www.hamilton.k12.nj.us/domain/10 About Our District
- https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&DistrictID=3406540&ID=340654003092 School data for Hamilton West-Watson
- Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014.
- Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed December 1, 2012.
- Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed February 26, 2011.
- http://njmonthly.com/articles/towns_and_schools/highschoolrankings/top-new-jersey-high-schools-by-rank.html "Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank"
- https://www.njsiaa.org/schools/hamilton-high-school-west Hamilton High School West
- https://www.njsiaa.org/sites/default/files/documents/2020-10/2020-2021-lc-officers-schools.pdf League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021
- https://www.njsiaa.org/sites/default/files/documents/2020-11/general-classifications-2018-2020.pdf NJSIAA General Public School Classifications 2019–2020
- https://www.gridironnewjersey.com/schoolDetail.aspx?schoolid=103 Hamilton Hornets
- https://www.westjerseyfootball.com Home Page
- https://www.njsiaa.org/sites/default/files/documents/2022-08/Football%20%2722%20%26%20%2723.pdf NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2022–2024
- https://www.njsiaa.org/sites/default/files/documents/2020-12/winter-co-ops-2020-21.pdf NJSIAA Winter Cooperative Sports Programs
- O'Gorman, George. "High School Football: Hamilton rallies to top Steinert on Thanksgiving", The Trentonian, November 25, 2010. Accessed July 31, 2011. "The win put Hamilton's lead in Mercer County's only holiday rivalry to 32-19-1 and ended the Hornets season at 8-3 — their best record since Hoglen's 2001 team went 9-3."
- Stypulkoski, Matt. "Ranking the 31 fiercest rivalries in N.J. HS football", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, October 27, 2017, updated May 15, 2019. Accessed December 28, 2022. "16-Hamilton West vs. Steinert. This Thanksgiving, these intra-district rivals will meet for the 59th time in Hamilton West's only home game of 2017.... All-time series: Hamilton West leads, 34-23-1"
- https://www.njsiaa.org/sites/default/files/documents/2020-11/2020-basketball-history_0.pdf NJSIAA Boys Basketball Championship History
- https://www.nytimes.com/1935/03/17/archives/pennington-retains-basketball-crown-routs-st-benedicts-3221-to-keep.html "Pennington Retains Basketball Crown; Routs St. Benedict's, 32-21, to Keep New Jersey Group 4 Prep School Title."
- https://www.nytimes.com/1953/03/22/archives/bloom-field-tops-jefferson-6045-gains-jersey-school-division-title.html "Bloomfield Tops Jefferson, 60-45; Gains Jersey School Division Title -- Hamilton, Weehawken and North Arlington Win"
- https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/320273572/ "Hamilton West rolls to Group III title"
- https://www.njsiaa.org/sites/default/files/documents/2020-11/2020-basketball-tofc-history.pdf NJSIAA Boys Basketball Tournament Of Champions History
- Minnick, Kevin. "Zoubek takes over; Haddonfield advances as center gets 31", Courier-Post, March 17, 2006. Accessed February 20, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "The 7-foot-2 Duke-bound center scored 21 of his game-high 31 points in the second half Thursday as the Bulldogs eased to an 80-67 victory over Hamilton West in the quarterfinals of the Tournament of Champions at the Ritacco Center on the campus of Toms River North High School.... Haddonfield never trailed in dispatching Hamilton West (23-7), the Group 3 state champion."
- https://www.njsiaa.org/sites/default/files/documents/2021-12/21-boys-soccer-history.pdf NJSIAA History of Boys Soccer
- https://www.njsiaa.org/sites/default/files/documents/2020-11/2020-girls-basketball-history.pdf NJSIAA Group Basketball Past Champions
- Florczak, Brian. "Plainfield girls lose in finals at Meadowlands; Hamilton West wins Group 4 basketball crown", Courier News, March 21, 1983. Accessed January 13, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Perhaps we'll never know the reason why the Plainfield High girls' basketball team didn't show up for Saturday night's Group 4 state championship game. Granted, there were some players on the court at the Meadowlands Arena wearing red-and-white uniforms that had Plainfield stitched on the back.... Well for one thing, the authentic Lady Cards wouldn't have been dominated 61-51 by Hamilton West (26-1)."
- https://www.njsiaa.org/sites/default/files/documents/2024-02/Softball%2023.pdf Softball Championship History 1972–2023
- https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/143959073/ "No. 1 Immaculate Heart beats Bishop Eustace in Parochial A"
- https://www.njsiaa.org/sites/default/files/documents/2020-11/20-baseball-history.pdf NJSIAA Baseball Championship History
- https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/319267159/ "Yesterdays' NJSIAA Baseball Finals"
- http://www.hornetbands.org/Hornet_Bands/Home.html Home Page
- https://www.htsdnj.org/domain/958 Administration Team
- Fisher, Rich. "Brian Smith steps down as Steinert AD", The Trentonian, July 29, 2011. Accessed July 31, 2011. "On Wednesday night, Brian Smith was appointed by the Hamilton Township School Board to be the new Vice Principal at Hamilton High, meaning Smith must step down after one year as Steinert's AD.... Although he is thrilled with his new position — working for newly appointed principal Katherine Taylor and serving as VP along with childhood friend Chuck Zalescik — Smith will miss the good friends he made at Steinert."
- https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_list.asp?Search=1&DistrictID=3406540 School data for the Hamilton Township School District
- https://rc.doe.state.nj.us/selectreport/2022-2023/21/1950 School Performance Reports for the Hamilton Township Public School District
- https://www.hamilton.k12.nj.us/Domain/1004 Nottingham - Hamilton High North
- https://www.htsdnj.org/Domain/1053 Steinert - Hamilton High East
- Eckel, Mark. "Hamilton grad Burns played NBA Summer League with Grizzlies", NJ.com, July 30, 2013. Accessed May 21, 2017. "Burns, the one-time Hamilton High School basketball star, just completed play in the NBA Summer League for the Memphis Grizzlies and played well enough in a limited role that he's waiting, and hoping, for a call."
- http://www.siusalukis.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/jayson_dimanche_635865.html Jayson DiManche
- Abdur-Rahman, Sulamain. "Will Hamilton Township Council become Democrat or Republican", The Trentonian, November 1, 2009. Accessed April 13, 2016. "A graduate of Hamilton High West and Mercer County College, Goodwin said he first entered politics four years ago to 'take the town back.'"
- http://www.rider.edu/174_5638.htm WZBN Video Vault - Former Bronc Hoey to Have Number Retired at Hamilton West on February 1, 2007
- Weinberg, David. "Season Of Joy / Mcnabb Throws 4 TD Passes As Eagles Clinch Playoff Spot", The Press of Atlantic City, December 11, 2000. Accessed February 26, 2011. ""Johnson, who was an all-state quarterback at New Jersey's Hamilton West High School, appeared at quarterback for four plays and completed a 23-yard pass..."
- https://www.cfl.ca/index.php?module=roster&func=display&ros_id=425 CFL.ca Player Profile
- https://eadiocese.org/metropolitannicholas Metropolitan Of Eastern America & New York, First Hierarch Of The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Of Russia
- Wosh, Peter J. Covenant House: Journey of a Faith-Based Charity, pp. 13-35. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005. . Accessed January 17, 2018.
